Barbara Billingsley

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Barbara Billingsley, (Barbara Lillian Combes), American actress (born Dec. 22, 1915, Los Angeles, Calif.—died Oct. 16, 2010, Santa Monica, Calif.), portrayed June Cleaver, the even-tempered and perfectly coiffed stay-at-home mother who kindly shepherded her two sons, Wally and Theodore (“Beaver”), through their childhood travails on the television series Leave It to Beaver (1957–63). Her character wore high heels, shirtwaist dresses, and a trademark string of pearls in the course of her everyday housework, a style that became emblematic of the 1950s typical housewife, though few women at that time actually performed household duties in such finery. Prior to joining the sitcom, Billingsley worked briefly as a model and appeared in a few B movies. In the filmAirplane! (1980), Billingsley spoofed her Cleaver character in a cameo in which she interpreted jive talk. She later provided the voice (1984–91) for the character Nanny in the Nickelodeon cable TV show Muppet Babies.